Ahmedabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday said the ambitious Rs 1.08 lakh crore ($17 billion) bullet train project for which he and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe laid the foundation stone here would bring pace to development in the country.

In his address after the ceremony for the 508-km Ahmedabad-Mumbai High Speed Rail, Modi said that no country can grow if they don’t dream big. “To grow one needs to expand his dreams and decide his strength to achieve that,” Modi said.

“It’s new India which has to fly high,” the Prime Minister said.

“Bullet train is a project that will provide pace to development. Along with new technology it will also bring results faster,” Modi said.

He said that with the foundation laying of the project India has fulfilled its very old dream.

“Bullet train will bring employment as well as speed. The Bullet train project is human friendly and eco friendly,” he remarked.

The distance will be covered in two hours and seven minutes if the train stops at four stations — Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat and Mumbai. If the train stops at all 12 stations, it will cover the distance in two hours and fifty-eight minutes.

According to Railway Ministry officials, the operating speed of the bullet train would be 320 kmph and the maximum speed would be 350 kmph.

Later in the day, Modi and Abe are to participate in the 12th Annual Bilateral Summit in state capital Gandhinagar.